Yesterday, I woke up to a cluster of posts from outraged people in regards to what seemed to be a failed marketing attempt from Dove. It is not the first time that Dove was in hot water due to their advertisements. This time around, the anger was sparked from an image of an African American woman who after taking her shirt off, transformed into a Caucasian woman. This caused the Internet to break.

Dove immediately dropped the ad and issued a formal apology. Hours later however, the entire advertisement surfaced.

After looking at the entire ad, I think the outrage was based off of premature assumption.

By popular demand, see below for the highly anticipated Ad:

As you can see, each woman wore a nude shirt. As they began to remove their shirt, the video frame changed to another woman of a different race. It seems to me that Dove was simply trying to portray that their product was for everyone of all skin tones.

After watching the entire ad, do you feel as outraged as you did from seeing the initial image that went viral? Should Dove fire their Advertising Manager? Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Billboard for Rabbit Pizza Made from Dead Rabbits:

As we approach the Easter holiday, New Zealand pizza chain Hell Pizza, popular for their attention-grabbing marketing campaigns, has revealed their newest billboard advertisement that has stirred controversy among animal rights activists because it is covered in rabbit skin. The rabbit ad is Hell Pizza’s latest provocative marketing stunt. In the past, the restaurant has mailed out condoms as part of a promotion for its “Lust” pizza.

Today marks the 50th year of National Small Business Week. Although many things have changed over the years with the fluctuation of the global economy, one thing that has not changed is America’s entrepreneurial spirit.

In efforts to recognize all of these small, but crucial components that make up our economy, National Business Week is a national recognition event to honor the top, go-getters of America.

This year offers daylong events held in Seattle, WA; Dallas, TX; Saint Louis, MO; Pittsburg, PA; and Washington D.C. Panel forums include topics on government contracting, health care, access to capital, and international trade among with a plethora of keynotes and presentations from notary entrepreneurs.

Primarily, small businesses are privately owned and operated; and are not dominated in its field nationally. Size standards that constitute whether the organization can be considered a “small business” vary depending on industry differences. While large conglomerates are looking for bail outs and spending cuts, America’s small businesses are the engines of job creation. Small businesses create seven out of ten new jobs and employ over half of the country’s private sector. (SBA Office of Advocacy)

Numbers don’t lie:

Research claims that small businesses create two out of three net new private sector jobs in our economy. And today, half of Americans either own or work for a small business.

There are an estimated 29.6 million small businesses in the United States.

Compliance with environmental regulations costs small businesses four times more than large firms. (NFIB)

66% of small businesses are maintaining or increasing spend on digital marketing – AT&T Small Business Technology Poll 2013

Since 1990, as big business eliminated 4 million jobs, small businesses added 8 million new jobs.

Small business account for:

52.6% of all retail sales

46.8% of all wholesale sales

24.8% of all manufacturing sales

Let’s keep the Small Business pendulum swinging:

In honor of National Small Business Week, Collideascopes will be posting articles highlighting the small business that did what it required to make a mark in their industry, tips to apply so your business doesn’t go belly up, case studies, and innovative solutions and trends in the market.

Let’s take a day and go to our local market for groceries one night, support an off-Broadway show, or book a photo-shoot with the community photographer. You will surely get a bang for your buck, along with see firsthand what benefit you provide for the ambitious entrepreneur!